Tainted Specter
Creature — Specter
Flying
, 
: Target player discards a card unless they put a card from their hand on top of their library. If that player discards a card this way, this creature deals 1 damage to each creature and each player. Activate only as a sorcery.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Mirage
- Price
- $0.55
- EDHREC rank
- #29226
Tainted Specter forces every opponent to discard a card whenever a Swamp enters the battlefield under your control, turning your land drops into a repeating group discard engine. The payoff is real in black-heavy builds, but a four-mana 2/2 that does nothing the turn it arrives needs dedicated support to justify the slot.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Tainted Specter is a Commander card through and through — the multiplayer table is where draining three opponents of a card per land drop becomes genuinely threatening, and black's density of Swamp-fetchers like Cabal Coffers packages gives the trigger real frequency. In Legacy and Vintage, it's technically legal but has never found a home; four mana for a 2/2 discard effect that requires land drops is nowhere near the power threshold those formats demand. Oathbreaker offers a smaller table where the effect is less punishing across fewer opponents, making it a fringe include at best.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.55 bulk tier
At $0.55, Tainted Specter sits squarely in bulk rare territory, which accurately reflects its narrow demand. It holds that price floor as a casual Commander staple for dedicated discard builds, but don't expect movement in either direction — it's unlikely to spike and unlikely to drop further.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.